This invention relates in general to plastic insulators for clamping or holding electrical conductors above the ground for aerial power distribution and transmission. Preferred examples of such insulators are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,134,574 and U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 830,671, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,470, both patents having been assigned to the assignee of this invention.
Such insulators have opposed jaws, with at least one jaw being adjustable relative to the other jaw for clamping an electrical conductor therebetween. The jaws are molded from a plastic such as polyethylene.
It has now been determined that in order to improve the adaptability of such insulators for use with either bare conductors or conductors covered with insulation, it would be desirable to provide the confronting jaw surfaces with liner members specifically designed for each conductor type. In this manner, the major portion of the insulator can be standardized to accept different types of liner members. The liner members must, however, be securely anchored to the jaws by a means which does not in any way compromise other desirable characteristics of the insulator, such as economy of manufacture, low dielectric constant and resistance to weather and tracking.